Shell inspecting machine



Dec. 10, 1940. K. WASSEN SHELL INSPECTING MACHINE Filed May 12, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 KURT WASSEN INVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 10, 1940. K. WASSEN. 2,224,204

SHELL INSPECT-INK} MACHINE Filed May 12,1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 KURT wAsEN INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE 25 cause a localizedincrease in pressure or to create the machine; and Figure VI is an end view-of *35zinspection.

' i 45 mechanical manner. Further objects will be ap- 3 to rise a predetermined height. 45

' v 5 shells. Broadly the machine of this invention The shells H inserted into the holes I 0 'ofthe 50 Patented Dec. 1940 l: I I w I w V 2,224,204 snnu, msrncmc'mcnmn Kurt Wassn, Wilmington, DeL, assignor a, as.

cules Powder Company, Wilmington, Del.,, a corporation of Delaware Application May 12, 1939, Serial No. 213.302 Y 3 Claims. (01. a e-s2) This invention relates to a semi-automatic in-' tlon 'pinclosely fits into a perfect shell but a spection machine and more particularly to a maperfect shell will easily slide off the pin, while, chine for inspecting blasting cap shells that is due to friction,'any imperfect shell that the designed to reject all imperfect shells. inspection pin is inserted into will adhere to the In the explosive industry it is of the utmost pin. By'the removal of those shells which ad importance tohave. all metal parts used inv a here to the inspection pins, an eflicient separaprocess thoroughly inspected and approved. The tion'of perfect and imperfect shells may 'be'easily I inspection of these parts constitutes the best promade. The possibility of large shellspas'singthis tection from disastrous. accidents, which may type inspection is not seriousas the. shells of be caused from a machine jamming or from fricslightly large diameter would never cause a mal0 tion developing. Accidents in the explosive inchine to jam. Excessively large shells of course dustry must be prevented because such accidents will not fit intothe shell block. cause untold damages and may seriously en- -Having nowindicated in a'generaltway the danger the lives of-the workers. nature and purpose of this invention,"there fol In the manufacture of blasting caps the need lows a more detailed description of preferred t I of extreme care while inspecting parts entering embodiments thereof with reference to the ale- 4 a process is especially apparent because of the companying drawings in which: g V extremely sensitive nature of the detonating ex Figure I is a front elevation view of the shell plosives used. Further, the process of manufacinspection machine; Figure II is a side elevation 0 turing blasting caps calls for the pressing of of the machine; igu e III is a plan view of the explosives into metal shells which is obviously machine taken along line AA of Figure 1; Figdelicate work. The use of inspected shells makes ure IV is an elevation view of two blasting caps the pressing operation safer by eliminating the With testing die pins inser ed e mj possibility of all irregularities which may tend to V is an elevation view of a testing die pin of undue friction between press pins and shells. the die pin shown in Figure V. Blasting cap shells, as is well known by the A detailed description of the design and means art; usuallyare between .22 inch and..30 inch in of operating the machine of this invention with diameter and from 1 inchesto 6 inches. in reference to Figures I, II, and III in which like length. It is'thereforeevident that the processnume als refer to like parts follows: I so ing of explosives in conjunction with such small The machine is mounted on a substantial base containers is extremely exacting and that the I from which extending upward are two sup- ;ai er must be kept within rigid specificaports 2 located centrally on each side of the base tion limitsas to diameter and lengthby thorough I. These two pp r s 2 c ry he upp r meml Q bers of the machine and also act as guides for It is the object of this invention to provide a the movable parts-of the machine. r machine for accurately inspecting all sizes of On the base I is positioned a movable base blasting cap shells 'mechanically. A further obplate 3 to which is attached a cylindrical shaft gject of this invention is to inspect these shells 4 that has on its surface a gearracki that '40 mechanically in such a manner that even the meshes with a. gear 6 located on the horizontal 40 slightest irregularity of the shell is noted and shaft I that has on one end a handle 8 with the shell rejected. A still further object'of this which the horizontal shaft 1 may berotated, invention is to obtain this accurate inspection The-rotation of the horizontal shaft 1 through efliciently, economically, and in a semi-automatic about 180 by the handle 8 causes the base plate parent hereinafter. Upon the base plate 3'is placed an independ- The objects of thislnventlon are accomplished ent shell block 9 which contains a plurality of by a machine which operates semi-automatical holes l8 drilled to accommodate, any predeterly and whichefliciently removes all imperfect mined definite type and number of shells H;

.' may be described as comprising means hereinshell block 9 align themselves dueto the action after called the shell block for holding a. blastof the guides I2 in'such away under the pin' ing cap shell in a predetermined position and; block l3 containing separate pins M for each means for inserting into the shell a hollow inof the shells .1 i, that upon raising the base block spection pin jot definite diameter. The inspec 3 by the use of'the gear 6 andgear rack 5 the 55 is slipped onto a pin which will extend to the bottom of the shell. After the operation of raising the base plate, the basevplate is lowered and the perfect shells slip ofi the pins thus completing the inspection. 1. hllishells-which' are not perfect will remain adhering to their respective pin and these imperfect shells are subsequently discarded by the action of lowering the stripper plate IS with the combination 'of levers l6 actuated by moving the handle I I. Before stripping the imperfectshells from the pins, the block of perfect shells is removed from under the pin head 13 and taken from the inspection machine via platform I1.

The stripper plate l5 which removes the imperfect shells fromthe pins is positioned closely below the pin head 13 and thus provides as much clearance as practical and prevents excessive pin length. The pins in themselves must of course be of sufficient length to reach to the bottom of the shells being inspected which may necessitate pins of various lengths. To insure the removal of the imperfect shells from the pins the stripper plate must therefore be so geared that the movement of the handle will force-the Plate substantially to the bottom of the pins.

Although I have described above a means of raising the base plate so that shells are slipped onto the pins, it will be understood that the machine of this invention may be designed to operate by lowering the pins intothe shells.

The operation of the machine of this invention is further illustrated by Figure IV which shows in cross section an assembly view of the inspection pins l4 and shells [I I' when the base plate 3 has been raised. Thus, from Figure IV it is noted that the inspection pins II, which are pressed into the pin plate l3, enter the shells II and extend substantially to. the bottom of the shells ll thus providing a complete and accurate means of inspecting the internal shell walls. If a shell has any dents, small irregularities, or is oval shaped, the pin will not withdraw and the shell will be lifted from the shell block and removed as imperfect.

The pins ll are designed as shown in Figures V and VI with a short tapered end l8 to facilitate the ease of entering the shell to be inspected, and then with a perpendicular section H which is ground to a definite diameter, and highly polished or lapped-to do the inspection work. The shank 20 is of necessary length to allow the insertion of the inspection section into the bottom of the shell and may be of various lengths depending upon the different type shells to be inspected. The enlarged section 2| at the top of the pin is designed to give a press'fit into the pin block. A hole 22 extends entirely through the pin to prevent shells from adhering to the pin due to the vacuum that would be created if such a hole was not present.

The design and preparation of the inspection pins of the inspection machine of this invention are of the utmost importance. While I have found that these pins may be produced by highly polishing or lapping a steel pin, I prefer first to chromium plate the pins and then grind or lap the inspection surface to the desired diameter. This polished chromium surface, I have found, gives a more accurate and efiicient inspection, the pins removing all imperfect shells while all perfect shells slip easily from the pin back into the block as perfect lhelll. Further, due to the extreme hardness d the chromium plated surface. the wearing quality is improved and consequeritly the retention of high inspection ability isprolonged.

'Ihe degree to which the inspection is to be pins outside diameters relation to the inside diameter of the shell to be inspected. Thus, the

inspection pins may be made to give any clearance when inserted into the shells and such clearance determines the degree of imperfection noted. [I have found that when .22 caliber shells are to be inspected, the use of a pin having about a .218 inch diameter inspecting surface removes shells will require different diameter inspection pins and therefore it is to be understood that I contemplate using the machine of this invention to inspect shells of any diameter or length by substituting inspection pins of the desired diameter and length and, if necessary, increasing or decreasing the length of stroke of the base plate provided for by the gear rack.

There are many features which may be added to the machine of .this invention and which are to be understood to be within the broad scope of this invention that may tend to give easier operation. Thus, to illustrate there may be provided a metal plate or safety glass guard 22, Figure I, to prevent dirt or foreign substance from entering the holes in the individual pins. Another aid in operation may be a sprocket 23 Figure I over which may act a counter weight to ease the action of the base plate. Likewise it has been found desirable to add a locking device 24 Figure I to prevent any motion of the stripper plate during the actual inspecting of the shells.

Further similar improvements should be considered as within the broad scope of this invention.

'The number 'of holes in the shell block will, of course, correspond to the number of pins in the pin head and may be any number that provides an efficient inspection. Thus, I prefer to use a shell block which has the same number and arrangement of .shells that are used during the explosives pressing operation as such use allows the block of inspected shells to be taken directly to the explosives press.

Although the .machine of this invention is specifically designed to inspect blasting caps, it

' may also be adapted for-use in inspecting other shells such as rifle cartridges, metal capsules, tubes, nipples, barrels, and the like.

It will be understood that the details and examples given hereinbefore are illustrative only and in no way limiting on my invention as broadly described hereinbefore and in the appended claims.

' What I claim and desire to protect by letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for inspection the inner bore of tubular members such-as blasting cap. shells, the combination of a holder having means for receiving tubular members adapted to be inspected, a block supporting a plurality of cylindrical inspecting members above the tubular members in said holder,- said inspecting memfcarried depends gntirely upon the inspection a bers havinga diameter closely approximating the bore of the tubular members being inspected, means for moving said block and said holder relative to each other to cause said inspecting members to enter said tubular members whereby. any defect in any tubular member causes contact with an inspecting member and adherence to said inspecting member, and means for removing said adhering defectve members from said inspecting member.

2. In a machine for inspecting theinner bore of closed end shells, the combination of a holder having means for receiving shells adapted to be inspected, a block supporting a plurality of cylindrical inspecting pins above the shells in said holder, said inspecting pins having a diameter closely approximating the bore of the shells being inspected, means for moving said block and said holder relative to eachother to cause said inspecting pins to enter saidshells whereby any defect in any shell causes contact with an inspecting pin and adherence to said inspecting pin, and means for removing said adhering defective shells from said inspecting pins.

3. ma machine for inspecting the inner bore -1 of closed end shells, the combination of a holder having means for receiving shells adapted to be inspected, a block supporting a plurality of cylindrical inspecting pins above the shells in said holder, said inspecting pins having a diameter closely approximating the bore of the shells being inspected and having a duct between the ends thereof adapted to vent to the atmosphere the interior of vthe shell to be inspected when said pin is entered into said shell, means for moving said block and said holder relative to each other to cause said inspecting pins to enter said shells whereby any defect in any shell causes contact withan inspecting pin and adherence to said inspecting pin, and means for'removing said adhering detective shells from said inspect-. ing pins.

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